New solutions, ‘ made in India’ by GE Healthcare have drastically cut the costs of instrumenting cardiac care: while the latest avatar of the GE digital ECG system, the MAC 600 priced at around Rs 60,000 – Rs 70,000 is almost 80 percent cheaper than available alternatives, the newly launched GE VIVID P3 cardiac ultrasound system is at an asking price of around Rs 100,000 – Rs 120,000, at least half the price of alternatives. Said John Dineen, President & CEO, GE Healthcare, who unveiled the new new peoducts in Bangalore last week: “Our vision is to provide better health for more people at lower costs. We are tremendously proud of our initial achievements: 29 healthymagination validated products, $ 700 Million in research and development investment and more than 135 million lives touched in new ways in the first two years.In India, healthymagination also means using local knowledge and expertise to developing the best medical technologies in the world. Some of these are local technologies and solutions which will exclusively serve the Indian market; but other inventions will be exported to doctors and health systems around the world. Two great examples are the devices we are launching : the GE Healthcare MAC 600 ECG and GE VIVID P3 ultrasound system”.
The new GE MAC 600 is a lightweight, portable, easy to use digital resting ECG device that puts leading clinical technology simplified and resized to fit the hands of a physician in small towns and rural areas. It is designed to save time, energy and paper. The ECG results are presented in color on-screen with options to save the results in standard adobe acrobat files in detachable SD memory cards. With MAC 600, physicians have the option of printing the only selected files and storing the files digitally as well as transfer of the results using removable SD Card & mobile phones for expert opinions or base hospitals/clinics. The MAC 600 comes with Cardiosoft ECG viewer with facilities for easy access to thousands of ECG tests, searchable by patient. The system provides an option of transfer of files to a PC and printing ECG results coming from 12 leads to a single, plain sheet making it one of the best product for mass screening of cardiac diseases.
First cardiac ultrasound system designed & developed in India
Cardiac ultrasound is considered the second step for detecting a cardiac condition with real time non-invasive imaging of the heart. To date, cardiac ultrasound systems had to be imported into India making affordability hard for the neediest patients in small towns & villages. GE VIVID P3 is a dedicated cardiac imaging ultrasound system developed in India for India and the world to bridge the affordability gap in this speciality care area. VIVID P3 offers several features aimed at enhancing image quality, facilitating rapid interpretation, and improving diagnostic confidence which features include live Anatomical M-Mode, Tissue Doppler Imaging, Automatic Tissue, and Spectrum Optimization. VIVID P3 is based on GE Tru-Scan technology that is common to all GE ultrasound systems. It is simple, ergonomic and enables fast and efficient data management & transfer of images. It also provides advanced analysis tools such as Stress Echo protocols for adult patients usually available only in expensive, high end ultrasound systems.
Omar Ishrak, President and Chief Executive Officer, GE Healthcare Systems said, “To date, we have rolled out 11 such solutions from India, for India and the world. Today, we are very pleased to roll out two new In India, for India solutions that can address the largest killer disease in India – cardiac disease with improved affordability”.
V Raja, President & CEO, GE Healthcare, India said, “We plan to roll out a free, mass-scale online ECG training for primary care physicians in India as well as enhance our reach in tier II and III towns. With ECG training and affordable innovations like GE MAC and VIVID cardiac ultrasound systems, healthcare providers are better prepared for early detection and cost effective treatment of cardiac disease!”
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. at www.gehealthcare.com
March 19 2011